A Jester's Dream
by Madhog thy Master
Summary: NiGHTS: professional jester and freelance dream guide. A new "Tails" Saga spin-off episode. Set after the "Void" saga... A conclusion, for now.
1. Chapter 1

**A JESTER'S DREAM**

* * *

**1.**

_**It was a sunny day… A peaceful, warm day… A day just like others… A day just like thousands…**_

**_It seemed the kind of __day in which… Someone would live… And someone would die… Just like any day in the world._**

_**Just how this repetitive routine we call Life was meant to be… **_

_**Or was it?**_

_**On this day… A normal looking day… Just like thousands… There was a difference.**_

_**One would perish…**_

_**And millions would survive… To see another day.**_

_**And there this person was… She stood tall in front of Certain Death… Her defying form knew no fear nor doubts… She was ready to embrace her destiny… A destiny she chose to follow… A destiny she felt to be linked with. Courage and determination were visible in her features… Her caring azure eyes reflected the true strength of her soul… And the strength of Nature itself.**_

_**This is what this young being used to be… This unique being… This plant girl…**_

_**This Seedrian.**_

_**She wore a green dress with white long petals as a skirt… She had soft green leaf hair with closed rosebuds on both sides of her round head… She lacked a nose and her skin was of a candid orange… She looked so pure and beautiful and yet, so sad…**_

_**She was ready to face her demise… However, she only had one regret…**_

_**Him.**_

_**Her protector. Her guardian angel. Her love… The one who's been forced to witness everything from a "privileged" position… A few meters under her hovering form… Unable to move because of her powers… Unable to protect her anymore…**_

_**And desperate.**_

_**His distraught emotions crossed her own being like a train… A few tears descended from her eyes through her delicate cheeks… The moment was near.**_

_**Suddenly, her body started to change… To grew… To bloom.**_

_**Her once short green hair became longer and brighter… Her buds managed to bloom into gorgeous pink roses… Her physic matured as well… While the red Chaos Emerald on her chest shined like possessed.**_

_**She was using the power of the jewel along with her own life force to open an inter-dimensional portal… The breaking of the space-time continuum required such price… That's why she was aging rapidly…**_

_**She was in her adult form… When the Vessel of Death finally approached…**_

_**Project: Doomsday, it was called… An ancient human weapon who could wipe out the entire surface of Mobius… A nuclear missile… Man's Greatest Sin.**_

_**Despite its ominous presage… Despite her imminent demise… Despite Him… And his desperate cries… She did what she had to do… She did what she felt was right to do…**_

_**She tightened her grip to the glowing red gem and, once the nuke was close enough, yelled the most controversial spell in history…**_

**"_CHAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOSSS COOOOOONNNNTROOOOOOOOOOLLL!!!!" _**

_**And she disappeared into an immense green light… Along with the Doomsday device.**_

_**Her lover's cries never ceased.**_

* * *

**_An unspecified few moments later… In the pure black nothingness of a nowhere location… A strange, peculiar being__ was born… _**

_**It had a nose-less, round head and pure azure eyes… It wore a colorful festive dress… A red regal jacket, tight purple pants, pink-yellow shoes and a violet, black striped, jester like hat…**_

_**It's gender was difficult to define… If it had one, that is.**_

_**It looked very feminine and attractive… But it could also be mistaken to an effeminate boy.**_

_**For some reason, this being chose itself to be… A she.**_

_**Apparently, this jester was free enough to even select her own gender…**_

_**She gave a good look at her surroundings… Such blackness… Such emptiness… Such void… It saddened her, it made her sad and tearful… That's why she did something about it!**_

_**She rose in midair… And started her strange dance… **_

_**A few aerial somersaults, a blue sky was created.**_

_**A few speed burst, trees and forests came out of nowhere.**_

_**Some wonderful acrobatics, lakes and animals all around…**_

_**Just like in a dream… A child's dream… And this playful jester was its protector…**_

_**A satisfied smile crossed her lips. Her blue eyes were admiring her handy work… She had no idea of why she ended up there… Nor she had any idea of how she was born…**_

_**But from that moment on… She would always live her life for protecting this world she just created… For protecting its pureness and innocence.**_

_**She was the embodiment of childhood's dreams… Here to ensure that everybody would feel as joyful as she was… To ensure everybody would have their goodnight sleeps…**_

_**Their night sleeps…**_

_**Their nights…**_

_**And now, she knew how she should name herself… **_

* * *

NiGHTS, the dreams' jester, abruptly woke up from her own dream. She was hovering in midair as she always did, trying to recover her senses…

As far as she could remember, she always had dreams like this one… Visions who would give her slight clues about her true origins. Dreams were her best friends… Her eternal companions… Her counselors and also… As far as she could tell… Her only home.

She lived in the dreams and for the dreams… Occasionally, she would slip into them and fill them with her childish joy, only to then return in this place, or should I say non-place…

The fictional yet, more real than real, scenario she grew up in… The beautiful and peaceful utopia she created for herself.

She called it… Nightopia.

Over the last unspecified years (if time could be consider a factor, here) she would always wake up every morning, smile at her friendly surroundings and happily play with the local animals for quite a time… This, however, would not be the case, as she felt something that she was not accustomed to feel…

Sadness.

As previously explained, dreams used to give her fragmented clues about her true origins… It was thanks to them that she knew she was not the only one of her kind…

She had a mother, a brother and, as she was fairly sure of it, a father too.

She had seen them… She knew how her mother and brother looked like… She still didn't know how her dad's appearances were, though.

And then… For reasons that went beyond the subtle line between reality and fiction, she finally met her sibling… Only to find him completely different from how she was and yet, somehow able to overcome his sorrows and fill his own void… Thanks to her, apparently.

Void was his name… And void used to be his condition.

He was smaller than she used to be and his eyes were black and empty like the pure nothingness she was born in… Despite that, he was a stronger and more lively person that he seemed to be… All the suffering feelings he'd endured all over his life only made him stronger and his encounter with her managed to do the rest…

Void, however, was not the only one to learn new emotions… It was also the other way around. NiGHTS herself managed to learn something from her brother too… She now knew a slight glimpse of those bitter emotions she was not accustomed to.

After their obliged separation, that bitterness grew up even stronger. She suddenly felt the need to meet him again… To find him and the rest of her family… She needed to be a part of their lives… She needed to fill her own void.

She wanted to be with them with all of her might… But the sad truth was… She didn't know how.

She was basically stuck there… In her own Dreamland… Or in someone else's own.

Dreams. Her best friends. Her eternal companions. Her home… Her condemn.

Before her usually joyful behavior could be smitten by her sudden depression… Something rather interesting happened… Or should I say, someone.

She felt it. She could feel all the changes this world would eventually endure… Therefore she had no problem in feeling this new development…

Someone has arrived in her dimension… A visitor. Her first ever visitor!

She was thrilled. She started shaking like mad for the excitement. New comers meant new potential playmates. Without wasting anymore time, she flew towards the entrance of her realm at an impressive speed, not bothering to avoid the poor birds who happened to be in her way … Again, the excitement.

* * *

The gate zone was engulfed in a mystical eternal night… It had a giant fountain in its centre and tall trees all around… A romantic place, one would say…

For this particular individual, however, who happened to be a very rational person, it all seemed so baffling. Despite not being new with the strange and inexplicable things Chaos would throw at him… He still couldn't help but feel uncomfortable when unable to properly understand and / or logically explain the nature of determined elements… Therefore, when he (for some unknown reason) ended up in this place, the bafflement didn't late to arrive.

What bothered him even more was the fact that he could not quite remember what happened before his, let's say, "awakening". His memory was blank… Except for a few images… Images of places and persons he used to know… And love.

Their memories were pretty much unforgettable.

Suddenly… A certain music started… A sweet, peaceful tune… Apparently, someone was playing a flute.

The visitor's ears perked in concentration and all of his features relaxed while hearing this soave tune… Making his problems seem so distant… At least for the time being… As far as time had a meaning.

And then… It appeared. This strange, joker like floating being who seemed to play a flute… Only, there was no flute in its hands, but that didn't stop him anyway.

It hovered down, right in front of the confused visitor… He could tell this being was feminine but he could be wrong.

Her eyes were shut while her soft fingers where playing (or pretending to play) her invisible flute… The young boy found himself abducted by her form… So beautiful and reassuring.

Then the music stopped and her harmonious gaze fixed itself on the boy's one. She had light blue eyes… Just like his own. She smiled a sincere smile and offered him a certain piece of plasticized paper.

With unsure movements, he picked the paper from her delicate hands and red it.

_**NiGHTS.**_

_**Professional jester and freelance dream guide.**_

It managed to baffle the kid even more… But something in her facial features told him that he could trust the mysterious buffoon.

"So… Your name is NiGHTS?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes and then nodded… Why do people always have to ask her? She didn't make all those presentation papers for nothing!

Her mood instantly lightened up when her eyes met the boy's heart warming smile… Along with the rest of his peculiar appearance.

The adjective to describe him was… Unique.

He was an anthropomorphic, yellow-orange fox kid… And he had not one but two tails… Amazing!

"My name is Miles "Tails" Prower… My friends only call me Tails… It's a pleasure to meet you." Said the young looking Kitsune while absent-mindedly offering his gloved hand to the purple jester.

Without wasting a second, NiGHTS put her hand in his own… And a sudden shockwave found its way inside the kit's body.

The old trick of the electrified hand has struck again.

The flying prankster's hysterical laughs came immediately after… As usual.

Tails's fur was all straight and perked, giving him a further ridiculous look… His big blue eyes narrowed in utter annoyingness… Just what he needed… Another childish individual to deal with.

The pleasure of their meeting was definitely hers.


	2. Chapter 2

**2.**

_**The Light looked so inviting… So reassuring and peaceful…**_

_**In the midst of this Shining Road… She stood. Into the Light. Upon the Light. She was the Light… Inside the Light. **_

_**She was beautiful… An angel… Her beloved one's angel… She was a heroine… A saint… A Goddess? No… Gods are immortal. She was not. **_

_**She could feel it. The end was near… The Vessel of the Apocalypse has been vanquished… Thanks to her sacrifice. She did it.**_

_**She did it!**_

_**In the purity of the Shining Road… She didn't feel pain… She didn't feel sadness… She felt nothing more than peace… All was numb. All was quiet. All was perfect…**_

_**All was so… Lonely. **_

_**We all die alone, it seems.**_

_**A few tears softly escaped from her blue eyes… She was ready to embrace her destiny… Only, she didn't want to do it alone… She was scared of solitude… Of the frightening feeling of being lonely… Without someone to hang and have fun with… Without Him.**_

_**And so, she felt them … Sadness and regret. They were numb no more.**_

_**She endured them all too well… She was going to the Light… To the end of the road… She was going to die… Alone.**_

_**Alone.**_

_**Alone… Not!**_

_**She heard the screams… The cries… Calling her name… Begging her to stop.**_

_**She turned her head and her eyes widened… He was there! He has followed her! He came for her…**_

_**Her lover.**_

_**His image was not clear… But she knew it was him. She could not mistake the sound of his voice… His desperate voice.**_

_**Her heart skipped a beat… He was not supposed to be there… He would die with her… She didn't want him to follow her. She wanted him to live!**_

_**No… You don't belong here… Return to your world… Return to your life… Forget her.**_

_**Forget her existence and live! Do it…**_

_**Do it for her… Live for her… Fight for her… And don't look back… Be happy.**_

_**Be happy… Without her.**_

_**But it was too late… He has reached her and didn't want to let her go… He said he loved her with all his might… She cried in commotion… He cried too.**_

_**They kissed each other tenderly and tenderly embraced… The Shining Road was ending… Pure Lightness was upon them.**_

_**Suddenly… A foreign force pulled him away from her… He desperately tried to stay but he couldn't… She sweetly smiled at him…**_

_**A smile full of sadness… And love.**_

_**This is where they shall separate… This is where the road ends.**_

_**She cried her love for him… She yelled it until he was in sight no more. Her time has come…**_

_**But where a life would end… Another would begin… Or at least, this seemed to be the case.**_

_**Her now long, two-tailed light green hair were gently moved by a sudden breeze… Her pink side roses shook mystically as if in preparation of a great event. She closed her eyes… Tears still spreading like a river… **_

_**And then… It happened.**_

_**Something dropped from her bloomed buds… Something small and delicate… Two seeds… Two unborn children… Her children.**_

_**Two twins… Two twin seeds. The future of her species… Born from her love towards him.**_

_**She watched her prodigies fall away from her… She smiled a motherly smile at them. She then took off her chest the red Chaos Emerald she utilized to save her world and let it fall along with the seeds…**_

_**They all shall return to the dimension they belonged… Her descendants shall grow strong thanks to the power of the red gem… The gem she was born with, in the first place… Her legacy.**_

_**She dried her tears and, slowly, turned towards the Light… She was ready for it… Or so she thought. **_

_**Her last remembrances before pure numbness: her soul mate… And the unborn children…**_

_**Yes, they would grow and live the life they deserved to live… Both of them would… **_

_**Hopefully.**_

* * *

It was a beautiful morning in Nightopia, NiGHTS's own realm, as always… And its jester ruler just awoke from her latest strange dream…

We shall gladly ignore the disfiguring paradox of having a dream inside a dreamland and move on with the story.

… She was having a lot of those strange dreams lately and all of them would give clues about her family's genesis… Or better, the family she dearly hoped to find… Someday… In the real world… If a real world existed, that is.

For some reason, she could not see her father's features (or the features she thought were her father's) and that clearly annoyed her. She almost felt as if her own dreams were backstabbing her… Or maybe, they were just trying to protect her from a dangerous truth… Who knew? Not her for certain.

And it bothered her the fact that she could not understand her own dreams anymore… She was the guardian of dreams, after all! She was the vessel of those joyful and happy utopias… But, as she already realized before, she was more than that.

She was a living person and therefore, she had her issues… Was her?

NiGHTS just sighed… It was perfectly useless to get distressed by such things… Especially since she now had a new friend to play with.

She yawned and stretched her arms and legs, ready to begin the day. She fixed her long two-tailed purple and black hat and checked her dress… She wanted to appear impeccable in the eyes of her guest… Those cute blue eyes he had, similar to her own. She couldn't wait to meet him again, she only hoped he wasn't as grumpy as her brother used to be.

Once she felt ready, the joyous childish being darted towards the place where she left her visitor the last night… While flying, she couldn't help but compare him to some kind of a cute, fluffy pet ready to be hugged and cuddled to death… She giggled within herself at the thought.

* * *

Somewhere… A certain vulpine boy shivered in sudden fear… Impending mushiness was upon him.


	3. Chapter 3

**3.**

_**It was the only thing left of her… An unborn child… Her child… His child.**_

_**In the midst of a secluded zone surrounded by lively vegetation and ancient rotten ruins, a single figure stood on his knees… As if praying… As if contemplating a religious idol… **_

_**As if dyeing.**_

_**Dyeing for grief… Dyeing for despair and anger… For Love.**_

_**His bloodshot eyes testified his pain… His white muzzle, stained with previous tears. All in all, he looked broken… Young, suffering and broken…**_

_**A little kid who's life has been tainted by pure pain… More pain than anybody could possibly imagine… More pain than anybody should be forced to endure… Especially not an 8 years child.**_

_**A child who's been forced to mature before time due to the ambient he grew in… A child who's been forced to abandon the innocence of childhood for a war he didn't feel to belong with… A child who's just lost his family… And his one true love… And all because of one man's madness!**_

_**All because of that egg shaped bastard!**_

_**The boy stood knelt on the grassy ground… This place seemed so peaceful… An utopia… A separate world, far away from the gruesome reality he used to live in… It was almost like… A dream.**_

_**In front of him there were those plants… Those unique plants from where his beloved one was born from… Evolved from… The so-called "Kitsune's Mates".**_

_**The cruel irony of it al, managed to engrave the boy's mood… His white gloved fists clenched as if ready to explode… But he didn't do such thing, he had a ceremony to attend.**_

_**A seed was placed In his left hand… Her seed… Her child… His child…**_

_**Their child… If it will ever come to life, that is.**_

_**He took a deep, painful, breath and tenderly planted the seed into the ground… Nature would do the rest… Hopefully.**_

_**Slowly, the kit raised from the soil and stood erect in front of all those rare plants… His cheeks wet by few new tears.**_

_**He then turned and, ever so slowly, spun his two namesake appendages and flew away from that spot… Away from his innocence… Away from his childish dreams… Away from himself…**_

_**But not from pain… From grief… From sorrow…**_

_**From her blood stained memory.**_

_**The remembrance of her death kept playing in his traumatized mind… Along with the demented laughs of the one responsible for her premature departure…**_

_**He felt a void within his own soul… A void that would soon be filled with rage and hatred…**_

_**He would have claimed the scientist's head for this…**_

_**He would have had his revenge… Or so he thought.**_

* * *

_**In the ancient ruins zone… Something already started to grow.**_

_**A certain red glowing jewel appeared out of nowhere and, as if animated with a life of its own, placed itself into the ground, along side the growing seed…**_

_**A whole new plant was formed just a few minutes after… It had a huge pod attached to it… It almost looked like a… Maternal womb.**_

_**Suddenly… It opened, revealing the form a new born baby. It had a pale skin and a round little head with no nose and full blackened eyes… Void eyes… Void just like his father's current state. The red emerald from before stood proudly and lively on the baby's chest.**_

_**It cried with all his might… It cried loud and clear… As if it wanted anyone to know that he was alive.**_

_**And someone did notice that… Unfortunately for the baby… This someone was NOT friendly..**_

**"_Poor little thing… Alone and without protection." A mischievous, asthmatic voice boomed out of nowhere._**

_**The new born infant ceased his cries and listened intently.**_

**"_Let me take care of you, young one… With me as your father, you shall grow strong and powerful… You shall attend your destiny! The destiny that your rare kind is meant to accomplish… Come to me, my child! Come to Naugus!" The voice practically yelled._**

_**And the baby Seedrian, as if acknowledging his words, nodded in acceptance.**_

_**And then… It just disappeared into nothingness.**_

* * *

Tails snapped out of his dream, sweating profusely. His blue eyes were widened in fear and shock. He put a hand on his forehead, desperately trying to recollect his chaotic thoughts into rational ones… Easier said than done.

That dream… That nightmare… He was sure it was one of his memories he'd lost when he arrived into this bewildering world.

Some rather painful ones.

After calming himself a little, he gave a good look at his surroundings… He didn't have the chance to do so, last night.

The kit rolled his eyes at the memory of that baffling jester's behavior.

First she electrocuted him, then, after laughing at him like an immature child, suddenly took his hand and, before he could even ask about this or that matter, pulled him in sky with her…

After a few seconds of break-neck flying antics that managed to frighten him to death, she just released him where he currently stood for the night, bowed herself in a reverence manner and flew away…

Needless to say, Tails was left baffled… To say the very least.

He was in a strange colorful dream like land he had no idea how he's arrived in, with a crazy unpredictable jester like flying being who had a weakness for stupid pranks… And he also had a minor amnesia problem.

Yes… Definitely baffling.

The place she had left him was a rather good spot, none the less. A beautiful, green grassy zone with a crystal lake at the very end of it. The air was fresh, the sky was true blue and birds were singing… "Take On Me" by A Ha?

What the heck!?

It baffled him ever more the fact that he actually knew that human song… Since it was several millenniums older than he was.

Tails shook his head and decided to dismiss it as a hearing hallucination… Because there was NO way that that could have really happened.

He raised from the soft ground and slowly walked towards the clean water of the lake with the obvious intentions of bathing his sweated fur.

When he was just a few inches from the lake, a sudden noise was caught by his fine foxy ears…

"What was that noise!?" He abruptly turned his head but nothing was in sight. "Must be my imagination…" He said to himself then returned to his affairs.

Another suspicious noise startled him.

"Who's there!?" He yelled.

No answer. Was he starting to get paranoid? It would not be a surprise considering his current state of mind.

He then lowered himself to the lake, giving a good look at his reflection in the water… What he saw almost shocked him.

There it was, his own image… Only, it wasn't really his own… Or at least, it was not how he usually looked… Its fur was darker, its bangs were sharp and pointed and his eyes… They weren't azure blue as they used to be… They were deep, bloody red… As if ruined by years of cries and tears.

Tears of despair.

Tears of rage.

Was this how he currently looked? Was it an illusion, just like this place seemed to be? Was it his hidden other self? His Persona? His Alter-Ego?

The figure smiled… An evil, sadistic smile, before turning into the vulpine's average reflection… Which could very well not be his truthful one.

As usual, lots of questions popped inside his fertile mind… Only to be distracted by another reflection…

Before he could do anything, someone from behind pushed him into the water… An unceremoniously splash followed… Along with hysterical girlish laughs.

Right before resurfacing from the surprisingly deep and cold lake, Tails had the necessary time to properly understand what just happened…

A certain feminine buffoon he happened to know and despise had stealthily approached him from behind thanks to some kind of a mimetic outfit… Just like a certain videogame character would do… And obviously pushed him into his own watery doom.

The Kitsune's head was now out of the water… A reasonably annoyed and sore expression was visible on his features.

"Very mature…" He sorely added to the still laughing form of NiGHTS.

She was wearing that aforementioned mimetic outfit… Along with a bandana that covered her forehead and fake short beard on her face… All in all, she looked like a nose-less version of a certain sneaky mercenary… She was a professional jester all right.

With a swift wave of her hand, she turned back into her normal colorful self… Still giggling, by the way.

In the meantime, Tails managed to exit the lake… His fur was all soaked and wet. He smiled a mischievous smile.

Before NiGHTS could realize the danger she was in… The fox boy started to shake himself in a very doggy like fashion, wetting the jester as well. It was his turn to laugh now.

She looked at her wet self and then at her apparently younger guest… And sweetly smiled at him.

_**Awww… He's so cute when he laughs.** _She thought, hardly resisting the urge to hug him and cuddle him to death.

Once the vulpine's chuckles subsided, he realized the rather ridiculous state his now bushy like fur was in… He looked like an even more mushy version of Gizmo the Gremlin!

Where did that come from? Ask Joe Dante…

With another swift motion from NiGHTS's hand, his fur magically returned to its normal state.

A sincere smile of gratitude crossed his facial features while his blue eyes fixed themselves over her floating figure…

Then… He froze.

That genuine smile of her… Those gorgeous caring eyes… Her face… She resembled Her in so many ways…

His lost love.

The night before, he didn't have the chance to truly study her form… Now, in daylight, he could definitely do it.

He only had a few memories of Her… That plant girl he used to love with all himself… And the most recurrent was the one in which she died for saving everybody's life… Including his own. He remembered her transformation, her accelerated aging, with scientific precision. He remembered the color of her eyes and her beautiful smile… He also remembered the feelings that were shared between them… As well as the tears that were shed.

It was unbearable… It was haunting… To re-witness those memories… On that jester's form.

And then… There was that red jewel. A gem his lost love used to have encased on her chest… A gem so similar to the one NiGHTS had.

Tails's pupils were now several inches smaller than before. His breath suddenly shortened. His body started to tremble like a hurt pup during a winter storm.

NiGHTS noticed it (how couldn't she?) and her expression turned from a happy-go-lucky one to a severely worried one… She felt a sting in her heart… Where that strange, red gem of hers used to be on. She put a hand on her chest, tightening her grip over that emerald shard. Tears descended her pure aqua eyes…

Apparently, she was THAT empathic… Just like that little girl used to be.

Without further ado, she darted towards the shaking form of the fox boy, lowered and hugged him tightly.

Here's the impending mushiness Tails foresaw a few minutes earlier… But, you know what? He didn't care about it. Instead, he returned the hug and sank his face into the Seedrian looking girl's stomach… Not bothering to avoid his inevitable quiet sobs.

NiGHTS tenderly caressed his head fur with motherly love while silently crying too… As if on cue, the surroundings seemed to react to their ruler's current mood: The vegetation looked less lively and the lake's water, a little bit agitated… And the little birds started singing "Sweet Dreams" by Air Supply.

Again, what the heck!?

Slowly, the little hurt kid looked up to the tender jester's face and weakly smiled at her… She did it too. No words were needed as it seemed that this two could perfectly understand each other… Somehow, someway.

She delicately dried the vulpine's tears away, then she released the embrace, rose in midair and offered her hand to him. At first, Tails was confused, then he realized what she was trying to do and smirked.

"Thanks for the offer… But I can fly on my own!" He proudly said while spinning his namesakes and hovering at his surrogate older sister's heights.

It was NiGHTS's turn to be left baffled. The now floating kit's smirk went even broader.

"Say… How about a race?" He suggested.

NiGHTS snapped out of her momentary trance and smirked back at him.

"I'll take it as a yes!" The now playful kit added and darted away without giving her the time to ready herself.

She didn't waste anymore time and rushed after him in hot pursuit… She wouldn't let this kid to beat her at her own element.

And so, the two improvised playmates' joyful laughter echoed in all of Nightopia while the birds started to sing… The Peter Pan's theme?

… Whatever.


	4. Chapter 4

**4.**

It was all perfect… The sky was of a lively blue. The clouds were soft and puffy… Expression of a genuine, childish, Joy to Live. The same joy those two playmates and improvised role-playing brother and sister, were experiencing at the moment.

The birds were singing a certain Italian song they found appropriate for the situation.

* * *

**"Nel Blu dipinto di Blu" by Domenico Modugno**

_**Penso che sogno così**_

_**Non ritorni mai più,**_

_**Mi dipingevo le mani**_

_**E la faccia di blu,**_

_**Poi d'improvviso venivo**_

_**Dal vento rapito,**_

_**E incominciavo a volare**_

_**Nel cielo infinito.**_

Tails and NiGHTS were having the time of their life, enjoying the breeze and the true blue they were flying in… Enjoying this dream. A dream so beautiful they feared it would never return._  
_

_**Volare ho ho**_

_**Cantare ho ho hoho,**_

_**Nel blu dipinto di blu,**_

_**Felice di stare lassù,**_

_**E volavo volavo**_

_**Felice più in alto del sole**_

_**Ed ancora più sù,**_

_**Mentre il mondo**_

_**Pian piano spariva laggiù,**_

_**Una musica dolce suonava**_

_**Soltanto per me.**_

They flew, they rushed through the clouds, they went as high as they could go, and even beyond, trying to surpass the other and laughing like the children they were meant to be…

Or, in NiGHTS's case, the children she was meant to represent.

The little birds continued their singing._  
_

_**Volare ho ho**_

_**Cantare ho ho hoho**_

_**Nel blu dipinto di blu**_

_**Felice di stare lassù.**_

To fly… To sing… In the Blue painted in Blue… Romantic, indeed._  
_

_**Ma tutti i sogni**_

_**Nell'alba svaniscon perchè,**_

_**Quando tramonta la luna**_

_**Li porta con se,**_

_**Ma io continuo a sognare**_

_**Negl'occhi tuoi belli,**_

_**Che sono blu come il un cielo**_

_**Trapunto di stelle.**_

A pure sky blue… Just as their eyes used to be. In the few moments they would be head to head, their respective gazes would encase themselves into each other's…

In those moments, a sudden sting of pain would find its way into the propelled kit's heart…

He feared all of this to be nothing more than a dream… A dream from which he'll be forced to wake up from… Because that was the meaning of dreams… To wake up from them and face reality…

Or was it?

He didn't know if this world was true or not… He would not care at the moment, though. Once again, he stared at the jester's eyes… So similar to Hers.

And kept dreaming… And flying…

In the Blue painted in Blue._  
_

_**Volare ho ho**_

_**Cantare ho ho hoho**__**,**_

_**Nel blu degl'occhi tuoi blu,**_

_**Felice di stare qua giù,**_

_**E continuo a volare felice**_

_**Più in alto del sole**_

_**Ed ancora più su,**_

_**Mentre il mondo**_

_**Pian piano scompare**_

_**Negl'occhi tuoi blu,**_

_**la tua voce è una musica**_

_**dolce che suona per me.**_

**_Volare ho ho_**

**_Cantare ho ho hoho_**

**_Nel blu degl'occhi tuoi blu,_**

**_Felice di stare qua giù,_**

**_Nel blu degl'occhi tuoi blu,_**

**_Felice di stare qua giù_**

**_Con te.._**

* * *

Yes, it was all perfect… Too perfect.

In the midst of such painted perfection… Of such dreaming pleasure… Of such Freedom… Something had to happen.

Why, you may ask? Because there can't be a dream, or a story, or even the dream of a story, without some twist… At least, that's not how my dreams and stories usually works.

And something did happen, as a matter of fact… Something sudden and uncalled for… Just like Death…

Or a nightmare.

Tails started to fall from the cloudy sky he was playfully riding just a second earlier. NiGHTS noticed it and immediately darted to his rescue… Panic perfectly visible on her facial features.

She managed to grab the kit just a few inches from the ground… Despite this being her world and all, she didn't know if it was actually possible to die here… Not that she wanted to find out, that is. She reached the ground with the kid cuddled in her arms.

It would have been a very tender sight… If it wasn't for the boy's current conditions…

He was shaking like possessed, his once azure eyes were rolled and saliva spread itself out of his mouth… He was having a seizure.

NiGHTS was utterly worried now… She didn't know what to do with him. She tried to cuddle him, she caressed his forehead in the vain attempt to calm him… Nothing worked. She was on the verge of tears, she truly feared for his life…

The fox boy was important for her, as she realized… She grew fond to him… She didn't know the reason but somehow she figured this kid had an important role in her life… Other than that, she could not let her only guest she ever had, to die like that.

She wished she could speak to him, reassure him with the sound of her voice… But for some reason, she couldn't. She could only emit sounds like giggles, open laughs and sobs, but she could not speak… Just like small infants would do.

Considering her role, it sounds quite inconveniently appropriate, isn't it?

Suddenly… Tails's trembling fur started to change… It became darker. His three head bangs grew sharp and pointed… Then, the seizure stopped.

And Tails opened his eyes.

His tear-consumed, bloodshot eyes.

NiGHTS found herself to be horrified and scared at the sight of the now changed two-tailed vulpine in her arms. Those red eyes fixed themselves into her own… Freezing her with uncalled fear.

The being formerly known as Tails grinned… A feral grin that revealed brand new sharp teeth.

Then… It attacked.

His pointed fangs sank themselves into NiGHTS's left shoulder… Crashing her soft skin. She screamed in pain and terror then quickly punched the creature in the stomach with her free arm. "Tails" rolled away from her prey, still savoring the delicate taste of her blood. He stood upright on his spot giving a good look at his handy work… What it saw managed to shock it.

There she was, NiGHTS, the mysterious jester and ruler of this dreamland… With her right hand clutched tightly on her left shoulder… Fighting the pain she felt. The wound seemed to be deep… Blood was spreading all over…

Green blood.

"Tails" dried its mouth with one of its paws, then look at it… It had green blood on it. Her blood.

It smirked devilishly. It spoke.

"I see… You're like Her, don't you? YOU'RE A SEEDRIAN LIKE COSMO!!!" It yelled with a new dark voice… A suffering dark voice.

NiGHTS's eyes went wide open. It knew about her? About the origins she was supposed to have? Who really was Tails? Who was this being right in front of her?

As if acknowledging her questions… The fox like demon answered.

"When Cosmo died, Tails was left empty and void… Consumed by despair and tears. I am the answer of his tears!" Its features began to change while it was talking… Its paws became sharp and pointed… "I am the result of all his rage and hate towards the cruel world he was forced to live in!" Its furry skin became stuffed and lifeless, like the one of a puppet. "I am the one who filled his void… I am the pure emotion that managed to keep him alive!" Finally, a weird, little red gem break through its forehead… All in all, it looked like a doll… A demonic doll… "I AM VENGEANCE!!!"… A Tails Doll.

She was frightened beyond reason… This stuffed monster was what Tails had become because of his grief… Because of the sorrow caused by the loss of a beloved one.

Then… It all became clear. The meaning of her dreams. The clues they would bring to her. Everything.

She knew, deep inside, that it was all true… She was a Seedrian. She had relatives. She had a mother, her name was Cosmo, who died. She had a brother, his name was Void, who's life has been cursed since his very birth… Although she didn't exactly know how.

And then… She had a father. The one being that loved her mother beyond the undeniable boundaries of Life and Death… The one who tried to save her but failed because of her own desire… The one who planted her seed, allowing the birth of Void… But didn't find the second twin seed… The one from which NiGHTS would be born.

Her mouth was agape in shock… Shock of such realization… Of fear… And new found grief.

The young, two-tailed kit known as Miles "Tails" Prower… Was her father.

And now… He was gone. Replaced by this doll like monster, embodiment of his rage and rancor.

"In order to successfully achieve his goals and avenge his beloved one…" The Tails Doll resumed. "… Every shadows, every clues, every object or memory that even hardly resembled his childhood… Every dreams and childish thought… Everything he's ever loved… THEY ALL MUST BE DESTROYED!!!" It said ominously, then grinned. "Starting with you… The Cosmo's remembrance!"

With that said, it launched itself against its target.

Despite the tormented state she was in, NiGHTS's instincts kicked in and she avoided the otherwise lethal attack. She tried to fly away, she could not do very much with her shoulder in that state… The loss of blood was starting to ill her. Her vision was already blurred and she also felt cold… The possessed doll was quickly behind her, it had no intentions to let her escape.

The chase began.

It was fast. Surprisingly fast for a stuffed puppet… It managed to come too close a couple of times but NiGHTS was an experienced sky fighter and air acrobat… Heck! She did those numbers since her birth! The pain was almost unbearable and she became weaker by the minute, but she still was able to Para-loop her way out of impending demise, plus, she had the home field advantage.

The Tails Doll lost her tracks right after she entered a thick cluster of clouds.

"You can hide… But you cannot escape!" It said in slight irritation, then started to look around.

A few meters below, on a leaf hidden branch of a particularly huge tree, stood the hurt jester who was trying so hard not to breath in order to avoid detection from the monster's part.

Her wound hadn't stop bleeding… A wound caused by her own father, who happened to be a child younger than she was (or at least, she thought he was) and that now ended up possessed by his evil side which happened to hate anything related with dreams and childhood… Specifically, it wanted to kill her.

There was a positive side in all of this gruesome situation, though… The birds had stopped singing.

Thank Chaos!

Once the flying stuffed puppet of doom flew far enough from her position, she relaxed and diverted her attention to her awful looking shoulder. She focused and gathered all her remaining energies in order to cure herself. She succeeded and the wound slowly disappeared, in turn, she was left drained. She tried to make herself comfortable and rest a bit. She knew she would have needed all the strength possible if she wanted to have a single chance to defeat that creature and, hopefully, bring her father back.

Her father… It sounded so weird. She's been alone her all life, she only found some company with the local animals and some random children she had to meet while visiting their dreams… But she never had a true friend… Or a true family.

A sudden burst of determination powered up NiGHTS's body. She was going to bring her father back of die trying! Then she just fell into slumber, too tired to even think.

And for the first time ever… She had a dreamless sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**5.**

NiGHTS woke up a few hours later… Her body felt numb, just like her mind.

It took her a few painful minutes to regain control of her physical and mental activities. Once she dealt with the average problems an uncomfortable slumber on a tree branch would bring to anyone… She started recalling the recent events. If she wanted to successfully counter attack that rage filled shell that used to be her long lost parent, she needed a well planned strategy… And quick.

A sudden noise startled her.

With a facial expression full of fear, she turned her head to her left… Nothing was in sight. If she would have been able to speak, she would have certainly said: "What was that noise?"

She tried to calm herself down… To no avail. This whole situation scared the hell out her. She couldn't help but shiver like the proverbial lost child in the dark wood… An appropriate analogy for her, don't you think?

She heard that noise again.

Her head turned to the right… Again, nothing. If she would have been able to speak, she would have probably said: "Must be my imagination…"

She couldn't help but feel an atrocious sense of deja-vù. She shook her head, trying to ignore that feeling… Perhaps, it was just the doing of her recent distresses.

The paranoid jester took a very deep breath. She was on the verge of a panic attack… Then something fell on her.

Her eyes grew 10 times bigger and her jaw almost reached the ground as she realized what that peculiar item was… The severed head of one of those annoying singing birds.

Its blood was still spreading like a fountain… A birds' fountain, I should say. It stained NiGHTS's attire and part of her petrified facial features. Some other blood droplets fell right on the Seedrian's head as she, ever so slowly and ever so frighteningly, looked up to see where the small head has fallen from…

What she saw didn't please her… Not. At. All.

Her terrorized facial features where just a few inches from where a certain demonic, crescent moon like grin used to be… Its sharp teeth stained with fresh blood. Attached to the grin where the rest of the diabolical stuffed creature that wanted to murder her so bad.

Apparently, the Tails Doll has been watching her for quit a time… While wearing a certain familiar mimetic suit and a bandana… Oh, the irony!

She gasped.

It attacked.

In just a few seconds, the poor tree she was hiding in, was reduced into scrap by the demon's claws and teeth in its attempt to bite the now utterly fast jester… Who, suddenly, had had it.

She abruptly turned to face her persecutor and immediately landed a well placed aerial roundhouse kick on its stuffed muzzle. Fear exchanged place with Irritation, as the jester's body language could tell. If she would have been able to made angry vocal remarks, she would have yelled: "How dare you steal my ideas!?"

She used to be quite jealous of her pranks and "Tails" just utilized one of her favorite ones against her… That was unforgivable.

The doll quickly regain its standing position and disposed of its mercenary outfit, its eternal grinning smirk still on its face. Right now, both the adversaries stood tall onto Nightopia's ground.

It chuckled evilly.

"Eheheheheheheheheheheheh… Since you won't die that easily, I have no other choice but to use my special weapon!" It said and then, its head emerald started to glow menacingly.

"I WILL ERASE YOUR VERY EXISTENCE!!!"

NiGHTS felt quite disturbed by that statement… As well as seeing that red glowing gem. She had to act quickly.

Then… A very suspicious detail came into her view… A very interesting one. The creature's shadow… Its silhouette was different from the doll's. Realization hit strongly inside the dream warrior's head as she clutched her own chest encased gem out of pure instinct.

She only had one chance… Failure meant demise. Simple as that.

Suddenly, an enormous energy beam was shot from the evil puppet's head gem while its maniacal laughter engulfed the entire place. The red emerald on NiGHTS's chest glowed too. If she would have been able to spell contradictory catchphrases, she would have yelled with all her might: "CHAOS CONTROL!!!"

And right before the beam could hit her, she disappeared into a very notorious green miasma… And into an even more familiar nothingness.

She reappeared behind the puzzled doll and, ever so quickly, put both her hands on its shoulders… A bolt of electric energy found its way into the stuffed creature, who screeched in pain right before fainting quite unceremoniously on the ground.

The electrified hand hit again! Only this time… It was not a prank. It was a matter of surviving.

As she previously suspected, once the doll lay unconscious on the soil… Its shadow tried to flee. NiGHTS looked at it with the classical "oh no, you don't" expression and thread her purple-pink boot on it.

Its ominous screech boomed in annoyance, more than pain. It was enough loud to send shivers through all the jester's spine.

The shade started to morph into something more solid through a thick cloud of smoke… After a few seconds, its form became perfectly recognizable… In all of its gruesomeness.

NiGHTS's eyes were widened and her mouth was agape as she stared at the intimidating shape of her adversary.

A hand… A giant, floating, metallic hand with one huge closed eye on its palm.

It stood immobile on its spot, giving her the time to better analyze it… She timidly took some steps forward, moved by her natural childish curiosity… Only to be left frozen as the aforementioned huge eye abruptly opened and its lifeless pupil fixed itself on the terrified Seedrian.

And then… It happened.

An earthquake shook the land violently and mercilessly as other 5 giant, one eyed hands came out from the ground and surrounded the scared jester and the fainted vulpine, who right now managed to resume his normal lively appearances.

They encircled the both of them, leaving no room whatsoever for a possible escape. They all fixed their collective, ominous gazes at her form… Once again, she felt lost and utterly defenseless… Just like the frightened kid she was.

A low chuckle engulfed the air and, for a few short seconds, she stopped breathing.

The chuckle then became louder and louder until it exploded into a pure maniacal laughter… Its only acoustic presence managed to kill each and every living animal in NiGHTS's realm.

She could feel it… All those lives… All those little creatures… Her friends… Suffering and dyeing… Bleeding their way into eternal numbness… Exploding into gory messes of flash and bones.

She fell on her knees and cried. She put her hands where her ears were supposed to be in the desperate attempt of ignoring the thousands and thousands of feral voices driven into painful demise… To no avail. Those cut off lives would keep their screeching into the jester's very soul and mind.

When the very last of those voices was shut… The laughter ceased as well.

NiGHTS hugged her knees… Trembling like a leaf… Swinging backwards and forwards like an asylum patient. She was out of her mind because of the shock.

Therefore, when the owner of the 6 floating hands appeared right in front of her, she almost didn't acknowledge its presence… The hands, on the other hand (sorry for such horrible pun), seemed quite happy to see their master.

The still shaking and swinging form of the traumatized NiGHTS managed to slightly turn and see her new, let's say, "invasive guest" in all of its awfulness. Her eyes widened in terror.

There it was… An enormous, immensely tall being, without arms or legs. It wore a dark blue vest with silvery shoulders… Its head had no eyes or mouth, it resembled a twisted metallic version of a pinhead. That, however, didn't prevent it to laugh like the devil it seemed to be.

The floating giant hands, who apparently embodied all of its fundamental senses, immediately came back to their owner and placed themselves around its demented shape in a halo fashion… Giving it the look of a religious painting… A grotesque parody of a Saint… Of a God.

If NiGHTS would have been able to speak out of pure fear, she would have probably asked: "Who or what the heck are you!?"

As if on cue… The creature answered to her not pronounced question.

"I am the Lord of Nightmares!" It said with its ominous voice, then added: "I am… WIZEMAN THE WICKED!!!"

The REAL nightmare has just begun.


	6. Chapter 6

**6.**

Pure blue sky and puffy clouds. Marvelous forests and colorful vegetation. All beautiful… All perfect.

All so sickening.

The humongous being known as Wizeman the Wicked, screeched in disgust in front of such dreamful utopia.

"I shall improve this scenario." Its voice boomed for anybody to hear it.

Then, all of its floating hands diverted their collective gazes over their master's surroundings… Their lifeless eyes started to glow.

And so, it began…

The once lively forest trees turned into demonic aberration of their former selves… Vicious deformed creature with multiple bleeding eyes, mouths, and disgusting spiky tentacles. They started to blindly slash and devour each other for absolutely no reason… A disturbing, gory feast.

And the blood was spread. And the land was covered.

All the lakes and water courses turned into screaming, infected pitch blobs made with melted corpses… Their cries reflected their victims sufferance and pain.

And the sorrow was spread. And the land was engulfed.

The former grassy ground turned into a dead wasteland with occasional rampaging volcanoes erupting from the ground… Erupting cascades of blood and interiors… Releasing the fury of Hell itself.

And the rage was spread. And the land was doomed.

"Behold… This is TRUE Perfection!" Said Wizeman, making his laughter heard, once again.

NiGHTS was beyond any possible fearful emotion known to Man, Mobian or, in her case, jester. Her shaking figure only rocked even more as salty tears descended her widened blue eyes… She felt everything.

The pain. The sorrow. The cries and the screeches. The rage and the sadness. The blood and the dead.

She felt her world dyeing painfully and sadistically. She felt herself slaughtered from the inside.

Yes… She felt slaughtered. I couldn't possibly find a more incisive term to use to describe her condition.

Suddenly, her watery tears subsided… And tears of blood took their place. Red fluid exited her bloodshot orbits like a waterfall… And not only that.

Blood splattered its way out of NiGHTS's chest, where her red emerald used to be. Then, she threw up… Guess what? Blood.

She was slowly and painfully dyeing in a sadistic gory environment… Just like her precious Nightopia.

All because of that creature… That pinhead monster who was laughing at her torments.

One of its hands grabbed the bleeding jester in its tight grip and brought her suffering form close to its master's surrogate head.

Her features were completely messed up because of the merciless waste of her vital green fluid… Her eyes were now completely void, almost… Soulless. She lay limp in Wizeman's hand… Like a rag doll…

Like a dead corpse.

But, unfortunately for her, she was still quite alive and well aware of her surroundings.

The Nightmare Lord's spiky head tilted on one side, amused by its handy work…

Ehe… Handy work! That was a good one.

"No, it wasn't!"

Okay, okay, sorry Wizeman… Anyway, it looked fairly amused.

"Good dreams… Are so worthless." It started to say. "Childish illusions of a perfect world to live in and feeble escapes from the cruelty of Real Life… How preposterous. LIVING BEINGS ARE MEANT TO SUFFER!!! THEY ARE MEANT TO LIVE IN A PERPETUAL NIGHTMARE!!!" It then paused a second, then added: "And I am the one who shall destroy all those ludicrous childish hopes… All those genuine and sickening feelings… All those illusions… By disposing of their vessel. YOU, THE GUARDIAN OF CHILDHOOD'S DREAMS!!!"

Its hand's grip tightened even more, squeezing the already weak body of its victim, who gasped in sudden pain and spat some more precious green fluid.

"And what could possibly be a better way to kill Childhood… Than a good old fashioned rape!?"

If it could, Wizeman would have grinned.

If she could have had the strength, NiGHTS would have screamed her lungs out of her mauled body… Instead, she remained still and seemingly lifeless inside its grasp.

"Let's play!" It said, not hiding a sadistic glee in its ominous tone.

All its other hands flew over the limp jester and started toying with her… Mocking a child's play with an action figure. NiGHTS's body would jump from a hand to another and, occasionally, would fall towards the ground only to be caught at the very last moment… This sadistic game lasted for a while until Wizeman got sick of it.

"Enough with that. Time to do things seriously…"

All the other hands' eyes were wide open and their gruesome gazes fixed themselves on the improvised toy that currently lay on their colleague's open palm. Lustful eagerness clearly visible in them.

They flew closer to her… And closer… And closer… And closer.

When one of those metallic fingers was just about to touch her… Something happened.

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Or better… Someone.

Before any of those floating appendages could even register it… They were all destroyed on the spot. Not even a single molecule was left…

Wizeman screeched in pain for the sudden loss of its un-attached appendages… And all of its precious eyes… Therefore it could not see the face of its foe.

But it still could hear him very well.

"Don't you dare… Hurt my DAUGHTER!!!" The now threatening and enraged voice of Miles "Tails" Prower echoed through all the nightmarish wasteland.

There he stood, in midair, with the comatose body of the Seedrian jester in his arms, bridal style, and not at all bothered by the obvious weight difference… Another interesting particular was the fact that the vulpine was in his own Chaos Form… A status he could only achieve with the 7 Chaos Emeralds… At least, in his world.

His fur was as bright as the sun, his pupil-less eyes were of a glacial blue, his namesake appendages appeared bigger and sharper and his three head bangs were also longer than usual.

All in all, he looked fairly pissed off.

It seemed that Wizeman had a little problem at hands! HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!

"Ooooooh, SHUT UP!!!" It said in slight irritation to no one in particular.

In the safety of the kit's arms, NiGHTS's body began feeling warmer and lively… All the pain, all the sufferance and distress she's been forced to endure over the last moments… All the physical and mental wounds… All of them, were gone.

She slowly opened her once again sky blue eyes and gave a very good look at her father's current features… He was that innocent little kid no more. He was a young adult who had not forgot about his childhood and relative feelings… And his strength came from those emotions.

It came from the love he had towards his family and friends… From the sheer and blind desire to protect them from harm… From his hopes and dreams of reaching his well deserved happiness.

It may sounded cheesy and naive… But dreams don't have to be harsh like every day's life, do they?

Tears descended the Seedrian's eyes… Delicate tears of joy as she tried to cuddle the best way she could inside the smaller kit's arms.

In truth, it was quite a comical sight to behold… But tender, none the less.

Tails's glacial stare diverted its attention from the Wicked One to see his daughter's sweet, tearful gaze. He smiled at her an heart warming smile. He was glad to see she was fine.

That monster tried to destroy her, both physically and mentally, but miserably failed… It wanted so bad so turn him into a raging mindless puppet… And now, it was going to feel his wrath.

Oh, the irony!

"Can you fly?" He suddenly asked.

NiGHTS nodded and slowly got up from the vulpine's arms.

They both fixed their angry gazes to their enemy, who by now had regained all of his lost appendages and could see again.

"FOOLS!!!" It boomed. "YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR ME!!! I SHALL OBLITERATE YOU!!!"

Tails just grinned… Then spoke.

"You may have managed to find a new almighty outfit to match your ego…" He crossed his arms in a smartass attitude. "… But you haven't really changed at all. You're still the same jackass I used to remember."

The not-so Godlike being seemed reasonably enraged by that remark.

"And you are still a little spoiled brat!" It retorted.

Chaos Tails just smirked and turned his head over NiGHTS's puzzled expression.

"I remember everything now…" He said to her. "I remember who I really was, who my friends and family were… The whom I loved..." He sweetly smiled at his daughter, who was so similar to Cosmo… Then frowned. "… And the whom I loathed." He ultimately added once again crossing his eyes with Wizeman's multiple ones.

The jester was even more puzzled now, she tilted her head in the classical "I'm confused" manner.

Tails continued.

"That freak over there… It's nothing more than a glimpse… A fragment… A twisted and nightmarish memory of a certain being my friends and I already destroyed back in my world… A foolish sorcerer by the name of Ixis Naugus." He took a deep breath and then, resumed his speech. "Wizeman is the embodiment of all my fears and my rage… It is my own personal nightmare, who's goal is to turn me into a vindictive monster… Just like Naugus used to be." He looked his daughter dead in her eyes, sending shivers through all her spine. "And in order to do so… He needed to destroy the one thing that kept my hopes and dreams… My precious childhood illusions… Together. The one thing that managed to save my very soul from a life of grief and hatred…" His glare softened and a sincere smile crossed his lips. "… It needed to destroy you. NiGHTS. Professional jester and freelance dream guide."

NiGHTS's eyes were wide in shock and surprise…

"This is not your dreamland… It is mine. This is my mind, NiGHTS… And you are a living, breathing part of it. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you… You managed to fill my own void with an innocent joy I thought I'd lost forever… I thank you for that."

… Her mouth was agape and all of her features reflected her undeniable bewilderment.

Was this the Truth? Was she just a figment of this vulpine's imagination? Were all the dreams she had, just Tails's memories? Was it all just a hoax, an illusion like a… Dream?

Tails seemed to notice the troubles his "daughter" was experiencing.

"NiGHTS…"

She looked back at him, clearly frightened by the eventuality of not being real… As far as the subtle difference between dream and reality went…

"… Don't you dare to even think that. You are as real as feelings and emotions are. You were born from my vivid memory of Cosmo… But you have your own personality and thoughts. You are alive… You are my daughter and that's that!" He scolded in a very fatherly way.

She felt reassured by that and nodded to him.

"Good… Now, let's finish this!" He said once again focusing against their foe, who's remained quiet for the entire time of their speech.

Then it started laughing.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! HOW PATHETIC!! ENOUGH WITH THIS CHEESINESS!!! FEEL MY NIGHTMARE!!!" It yelled while its brand new multiple hands widened their eyes over the two defying figures before them…

A black, lifeless and screaming beam of energy was shot from their orbits… A beam made of demonic red glowing eyes and twisted, deformed faces… All the rage and grief, all the sufferance and pain the vulpine has ever endured was in that monstrous colorless aberration which was just about to hit both the dream warriors.

The two of them didn't even flinch, instead they put their open hands before them. An enormous white light beam was shot, contrasting its nightmare counterpart…

It all came down this…

Despite all my previous unanswered questions about the nature of the universe… Chaos… The endless possibilities of Life… The complicated nature of dreams and emotions… Despite all of that, in the end, it has always come down to be this…

The fight between Light and Darkness. Good and Evil. Dream and Nightmare. The most classical and overused among themes… And yet, It doesn't seem to bother me.

In dreams, things can be simple as that, sometimes… Can't they? So let they be.

And who should win this battle, you may ask?

Isn't it obvious?

The powerful light beam managed to overcome its negative counterpart, reversing all of its energy over the now terrified pinheaded creature known as Wizeman, who started to regress into its previous Ixis Naugus form and then, back again into its earlier human shape…

"I hate that vulpine…" Said Gerald Robotnik before disappearing into nothingness… Forever.

* * *

The twisted land once known as Nightopia vanished with it… Leaving NiGHTS alone inside the very familiar void space that preceded Creation… The same black void the jester was born in. She looked around quite frantically, hoping to find her "father" or "creator" but he was nowhere in sight… She was in Nowhere.

Sadness engulfed her heart… An impending sense of doom made its way inside her soul. She was scared.

Scared of being left alone.

Scared about her possible future… Or non-future.

Scared about the possibility of being nothing more than a fragment of someone else's imagination…

THAT scared.

She hugged her knees, a few tears escaped her blue eyes…

"Why are you crying, little girl?"

NiGHTS abruptly turned her head over her back… There he was, the two-tailed vulpine she grew immensely fond to… Her idealistic father… Her Tails.

He smiled a sweet paternal smile and his blue as well eyes shined inside that darkness.

She couldn't contain herself any longer… Within a blink of an eye, she was on the fox cub, tackling him to the ground with a death grip bear hug of daughterly love.

"Ehmmm… NiGHTS, I can't breath." He said.

She released her embrace a little embarrassed about her childish behavior…

Childish was the key word, here.

Once the fox regained an upright position, he gently caressed his daughter's cheeks. The roles has been drastically reversed… It was now Tails's turn to light up the girl's mood.

"How curious… It seems that all my children are somehow older than I am." He giggled… Then he went serious. "NiGHTS, there is something I need to tell you, so… Make yourself comfortable."

She pretended to sit onto an invisible chair, just like a mime would do. Tails chuckled within himself at the sight.

NiGHTS was utterly focused on the kit's form, now…

He began his story.

* * *

_**When Cosmo, my soul mate, died in order to save me and the rest of my world… I was simply devastated. I felt a stinging, painful void within my very being… I felt as I had no reasons whatsoever to go on… No reasons to live.**_

_**I seriously considered suicide a couple of times… And I felt ashamed of it. **_

_**Then… This void I had, started to be filled with rage and hatred… All I wanted to do, was to avenge her and kill the bastard who turned my life into a living hell…**_

_**Into a nightmare, I should say.**_

_**Needless to say… The painful rage I was enduring was slowly devouring me from the inside… **_

_**That's when you came to my help.**_

_**It was thanks to you that I've been able to go on with my life… To actually enjoy it. To feel it. It was thanks to you that I realized I wasn't the only person who's ever lost someone important… And that I was not alone.**_

_**I had all my friends… They were my family. A unique and weird family but one, none the less. I loved them so much… All of them. I had fun with them.**_

_**In other words… I kept going on, despite everything… I lived and learned… Along side the others.**_

_**And, somehow, this behavior has been awarded… Because now, She's back.**_

_**Cosmo is back with me and, believe it or not, we have a son and a granddaughter… Who both happened to be older than we are.**_

_**Ehe… Chaos, this unknown.**_

_**So, you see, NiGHTS… You saved my life back there… And now it's time for me to return the favor.**_

_**The reason of why we met… The reason of why I came here… Is you.**_

_**My precious little girl.**_

_**I'm here to bring you back with me… In the Real World… Or at least, the world I used to live in.**_

_**The question now is… Would you come with me, NiGHTS? Would you like to wake up from this dream?**_

* * *

Tails tended his gloved hand towards the very fascinated jester in front of him… She looked at his honest and genuine eyes.

She had doubts no more.

Slowly but gingerly, she removed her two-tailed hat, revealing her long, light green hair and bloomed pink rosebuds on the sides of her round head…

She smiled a tender smile and her big blue eyes shined in sweet delight… Tails smiled too.

_**So similar to Her…** _He thought.

Without any further ado, the gentle girl born from Cosmo's memory grabbed her father's hand and a bright light surrounded them…

Then… All became white.

* * *

Tails awoke from the bed of his now re-built house on the cliff side of the Mystic Ruins. He brushed his head fur in confusion.

_**Wow, what a dream.** _He muttered within himself.

"Good morning, Tails." The sweet, harmonious voice of his soul mate greeted him.

Tails slowly turned his head to his left… There she was, his beautiful angel, his flower, the one person he would die for…

"Good morning, Cosmo." He said before kissing her on the soft cheek.

Her azure eyes fixed themselves on his own for a few magic moments. He would occasionally divert his attention to admire all of her details… Her delicate green leaf like hair and closed buds, her sweet smile…

Then he snapped back to reality as he remembered what day was today…

He suddenly felt nervous and started to shake in paranoia but, thankfully, a single glance at her calm and self assured gaze seemed to be enough to relax him.

"Today's the big day." He said.

"Shall we prepare ourselves and reach the others?" She asked.

The vulpine just nodded and got up from his bed.


	7. Tails Saga Epilogue

**Epilogue.**

It has been two months since the demise of both Naugus and Dr Eggman and the very first peace declaration between both the Mobian and the human race… The Freedom Fighters Militia, of which the fox has been a vital part of, has been dissembled by order of its original founder… Mobian Council member and Tails's step mother, Sally Acorn… And all of its members had been set free to pursuit their life's goals.

After his defeat, no one has ever heard of Eggman again… He just disappeared Chaos knew where, leaving all his machines and technology behind… An unexpected treat for the human military organization known as G.U.N., which worried the Mobian Council reasonably.

As experience taught them, humans can be easily poisoned by their lust for power… That's why they decided to dispose of the doctor's most dangerous arsenal before G.U.N. could actually put its hands on it… Specifically, all the mindless robots and the feared Roboticizers.

As for Tails…

A few things have changed in the fox's life… And yet, nothing has really changed at all… At least, not the relationship he had with his former colleagues and comrades. He now lived with Cosmo in the newly re-built house that used to be his parents' own.

And, of course, there was this other matter…

* * *

The X-Tornado (Tails's prized plane) landed perfectly nearby the ancient ruins zone… His and Cosmo's special place… The zone where the rare "Kitsune's Mate" plants used to grow.

It was a secluded place no more… A few dead trees has been removed, allowing the creation of a practical path between the zone and the rest of the less thick forest.

Once both Tails and Cosmo arrived in it… Everybody was already there.

All of their friends.

All of their family.

Every single person they cared about has gathered to this place for the same, beautiful, reason…

A genuine smile crossed the kit's lips when his eyes recognized all the couples and / or triplets in front of Cosmo and himself.

First off, there was his mother, Sally Acorn, along side her father, Maximillian. It pleased the fox the fact that even if he's been so darn occupied with the reconstruction of his former realm after the end of the war, he's found the time to come along…

Sally eagerly embraced her son and his mate and told him that, unfortunately, Espio couldn't come because he and Rotor had a country to guide… How did those two manage to coexist was a fact that slipped the brilliant mind of the vulpine.

Next to them, was a little girl Tails happened to save a couple of times, Cream the Rabbit. She came with her mother, Vanilla. She, apparently, developed a strong admiration towards the Kitsune… He sincerely hoped it was just that and nothing more dangerous.

Moving on… Here's the cursing warlord machine and his queen… Tails had to contain his laughter when he saw the pissed-off-as-ever form of his former leader and still close friend, Knuckles the Echidna, with his new mate, Tikal, who was pregnant of their first child.

Tails felt so happy for his surrogate red brother… He was not the last of his species, after all. Needless to say, no one besides the duo and some of the most trustable members of the former "Wrath of Mobius" Militia (now turned into a regular army for their brand new country), knew about their, let's say… Relativity.

Love is chaotic… It can go beyond the so-called "undeniable" boundaries of civilization. Knuckles and his sister Tikal were a fine example of it… It was a thing that concerned them and only them!

All in all, they looked happy together… And that was the only boundary that really counted.

Knuckles shook hands with the cub and the plant girl, a hint of irritation was visible in his body language but that is just the way he was… Tikal, on the other hand, was a joyous and pleasant person to talk with.

Not all the echidnas were like Knuckles, it seemed.

Behind them, Tails could notice the strangest couple he's ever known… And considering all the peculiar couple he knew and the one he was part of, that definitely said something.

The cheerful and Solar Amy Rose, who Tails loved as a sister, was there too, along with her… Unique boyfriend, half hidden behind the pink hedgehog's form…

Mephiles the Dark was still a mystery for everybody and it'll probably remain as such forever. He used to be Shadow the Hedgehog's other half… But when his brother sacrificed his own life to save the world a whole two months ago, he somehow ended up here and the first thing he did? He ran right into Amy's arms.

Tails couldn't help but tilt his head in thought… He didn't fully trust this individual but his best friend did, so he just had to accept him and leave him be.

And speaking of best friends… There he was, his favorite cobalt blue hedgehog along with his girlfriend… The Robian rabbit known as Bunny Rabbot… Man, what an awful tongue twist. Since they both were made of metal, these two seemed to be the perfect couple…

Sonic darted towards his "lil' bro" and shared an high five with both him and Cosmo, who felt quite dizzy after that and caressed her hand to shake off the inevitable stinging sensation.

After making some random jokes about bees and flowers, trying to hit on Tails's mother and getting his rear end soundly kicked by both her and Bunny's feet… He diverted his attention towards his "son", or should I say, his clone… He slowly approached Mephiles, who by now was wearing a preoccupied face, and then hugged him tightly and paternally.

Needless to say, the dull grey hedgehog was not pleased… Not. At. All.

After savoring the undeniably comical scene, both Tails and Cosmo fixed their attention on the last couple… Only, this time, it was a triplet.

A very warm and parental smile found its way on both the Mobian fox and the Seedrian girl, as they acknowledged the presence of their beloved son and his family.

Void was there, hand in hand with his blazing love… Who, not by case, was known as Blaze the Cat. Timidly hidden behind their back, stood their own daughter… Lumina Flowlight, who seemed to be of her parents' age due to a similar time / space paradox that lead Void into his teenage years before either Tails or Cosmo could. Another interesting detail, was the fact that Lumina wasn't born from a seed, like Cosmo or Void… She had a mammal birth. In other words, she was the first Mobian / Seedrian hybrid. Tails's scientific curiosity couldn't help but tremble in curiosity, it'll be interesting to see what she was capable of…

Yes… Tails definitely had a very strange and unique family, but a loving family, none the less. A family that managed to get through a war in order to be united… And he was darn proud of all of them.

They all exchanged kisses and embraces… To put it euphemistical, the kit was caught by surprise when his son, daughter in law and granddaughter appeared out of a non-specified portal right in front of his house, no longer than two weeks ago… He realized, though, that he would have had to recover all the time that went lost to better know Void and his beautiful not-so little girl… Luckily, he would have had all the time he needed.

He was a grandfather of barely 9 years old…

And he still hadn't seen the end of it.

Another member of Tails's unique family was about to born. That was the reason of why everybody gathered here, in the first place.

About a week ago… Cosmo made an important revelation to her vulpine companion… She told him that Void's seed wasn't the only one who came out from her buds when she disarmed Project: Doomsday… There were supposed to be two twins.

To her immense joy and surprise, Tails found the second seed inside one of his fluffy and thick namesakes when he, one day, decided to brush them… How did it manage to end up there and remain stuck in it for the last three or four months, was beyond the boy's reasoning… One thing was clear, though…

This seed has always been with him, in every single moment during these past months. Did that happen for a precise reason? Or was it just a random coincidence?

Was THAT important to clarify that point?

And the answer: no.

As a certain wise purple mercenary used to say… Certain things just happen.

This little miracle, as well as the miracle of Life itself, was one of those things.

Cosmo's red Chaos Emerald was chosen to ensure the seed's fast and healthy growing and the chosen place was, of course, the now well known ancient ruins zone. The foreseen period of incubation was supposed to be one week length.

And today… That week ended.

All the people gathered in the zone, kept their respective breath in anticipation… Tails, however, was just failing to breath properly.

The plant pod was about to open.

* * *

Baby cries could be hear through all the relative tranquility of the ancient forest… Tails and Cosmo's new child was born.

It was a beautiful little girl with sky blue eyes and short green leaf hair… With closed rosebuds on the sides of her small, round head.

Tails had watery eyes. He smiled at her and her mother who was currently rocking the small bundle of happiness in her arms, she was crying too.

While being literally submerged by his friends and relatives' compliments… Tails couldn't help but think…

_**She is the portrait of her mother…**_

Everything seemed to be so perfect, too perfect… Just like in a dream… Only, this was not a dream… This was real!

… Or was it?

* * *

NiGHTS woke up from her sleep… She had that dream, again.

"Ehi, what's wrong hun? I could hear your cries from down below…" Said the very concerned Tails to his daughter after entering her room… In the house he, Cosmo and her shared, on the cliff side of the Mystic Ruins.

The little 8 years old Seedrian girl just shook her head.

"It's okay, daddy… I just had that dream in which I'm a beautiful jester and fight a monster with you and then I come out from that pod and everybody's happy…" She said with her sweet voice.

Her (not so) older vulpine parent smiled at her.

"Do you want me to sing you a lullaby, NiGHTS?" He asked.

"Naaaa, I'm too old for lullabies… And besides, I have Mr Jackle here to protect me." She said, showing her father the funny looking orange puppet of a jester.

Tails would have rolled his eyes at his daughter's "maturity", but decided against it.

"Goodnight then." He sweetly said before leaving her room.

"Goodnight." She replied before falling asleep once again while hugging her beloved Mr Jackle tightly.

And for the rest of the night, she would dream about a beautiful place called Nightopia… And a certain playful, purple jester.

**The End**


End file.
